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Mountain Republicans and Contemporary Southern Party Politics

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Mountain Republicans and Contemporary Southern Party Politics Journal of Political Science Volume 23 Number 1 Article 2 November 1995 Forgotten But Not Gone: Mountain Republicans and Contemporary Southern Party Politics Robert P. Steed Tod A. Baker Laurence W. Moreland Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/jops Part of the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Steed, Robert P.; Baker, Tod A.; and Moreland, Laurence W. (1995) "Forgotten But Not Gone: Mountain Republicans and Contemporary Southern Party Politics," Journal of Political Science: Vol. 23 : No. 1 , Article 2. Available at: https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/jops/vol23/iss1/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Politics at CCU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Political Science by an authorized editor of CCU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FORGOTTEN BUT NOT GONE: MOUNTAIN REPUBLICANS AND CONTEMPORARY SOUTHERN PARTY POLITICS Robert P. Steed, The Citadel Tod A. Baker, The Citadel Laurence W. Moreland, The Citadel Introduction During the period of Democratic Party dominance of southern politics, Republicans were found mainly in the mountainous areas of western Virginia, western North Carolina, and eastern Tennessee and in a few other counties (e.g., the German counties of eas't central Te_xas) scattered sparsely in the region. Never strong enough to control statewide elections, Republicans in these areas were competitive locally, frequently succeeding in winning local offices. 1 As southern politics changed dramatically during the post-World War II period, research on the region's parties understandably focused on the growth of Republican support and organizational development in those geographic areas and electoral arenas historically characterized by Democratic control. Special attention was given to Republican development in urban and suburban areas and in presidential elections, especially those such as 1964 which were marked by Republican breakthroughs .2 While mountain Republicans have not been totally ignored over the past two to three decades, they have received relatively little attention and have normally been shunted to the back of the stage. This is illustrated by the various recent studies of state elections and politics in the South wherein the mountain areas continue to be set apart in the analyses as significant and separate regions, but they are seldom 5 Steed, Baker, Moreland spotlighted for special examination. 3 More general examinations of Republican growth in the South have also mentioned, but not focused on, the continuing role of mountain Republicans. 4 The relative inattention to mountain Republicans over the past two decades raises some interesting questions about their place in the contemporary southern party system. In this article we are particularly interested in exploring their role within the Republican Party by examining data comparing them in selected ways with non-mountain Republicans. Earlier research suggested that there were some key differences between the mountain Republicans (both activists and organizations) and the new breed of urban/suburban Republicans. For example, in contrast to relatively affluent, middle class conservatives responsible for Republican growth in areas formerly dominated by the Democrats, the mountain Republicans tended to be less affluent, less well educated, and less conservative (even liberal on some issues such as the role of the national government in the economy). They were also less likely to have come into the party by way of a switch in party loyalties, and they were less likely to be non-southerners who had migrated into the region bringing their Republican identification with them. Similarly, reflecting the longer history of Republican organizational effort in the mountain areas, these Republican activists were more likely than the urban/suburban Republicans to have been recruited through some party or political mechanism. In the same vein, their activities varied from those of their partisan colleagues in the areas of new Republican development since both the organizational and electoral circumstances were so different (e.g., more attention to organizational maintenance activities than to organizational development activities). 5 It is possible, of course, that the various changes which have swept the South over the past few decades have diminished or ev~n eliminated these differences. Certainly, the once isolated mountain areas have become less so with advances in the technology of communication and improved transportation. Similarly, economic development in the South has not completely bypassed the mountains, and these areas, too, have experienced varying levels of population change, urbanization, and the like. It is also possible that the influence 6 I The Journal of Political Science MountainRepublicans of the non-mountain Republicans within the party has now become so significantthat the mountain Republicans have been pulled along in theirwake in such a way as to erode intra-party differences. On the other hand, the mountain Republicans, at least in Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, may still constitute a clearly different component of the southern Republican Party. These are aspects of southern party development which have been largely neglected and which should be examined in the interest of a more complete understanding of southern party politics. Methods and Data This paper utilizes data from the Southern Grassroots Party Activists Project (SGPAP). This project, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation . and directed by Lewis Bowman and Charles D. Hadley, involved mail surveys of party precinct officials and county chairs in the 11 states of the South. Response rates varied by state and ranged from a low of 40% (for Louisiana Republicans) to a high of 68 % (for North Carolina Republicans). The overall response rate was 51 % with a total of 10,458 respondents.6 In the analysis presented here, we are using only the data on Republicans in Virginia, North Carolina , and Tennessee to make the comparisons of mountain and non-mountain Republicans. In each state we identified those counties (and, in the case of Virginia, independent cities) traditionally considered the home of mountain Republicanism as the basis for making the appropriate division of activists.7 A preliminary analysis done state-by-state revealed few significant state-by-state variations in the pattern, so here the data will be combined for all three states. Background Characteristics A brief description of the demographic characteristics of these local Republican officials will help clarify whether the traditional background differences between mountain Republicans and non- Volume 23, 1995 \ 7 Steed, Baker, Moreland mountain Republicans persist into the 1990s. As shown in Table 1, the main aggregate differences are on age, education, income, state of childhood, and time lived in the state. Mountain Republicans tend to be somewhat older (smaller percentages under 50 years of age and larger percentages over 60 years of age), less well educated, and slightly less affluent. Similarly, mountain Republicans are more likely than non-mountain Republicans to come from the South and to be longer-term residents of their current home state (although majorities of both groups have lived in their current states 20 years or more). On the other variables listed in Table 1, there are virtually no differences. All the Republicans are overwhelmingly white and Protestant, and more males than females are local party officials. Only with regard to religion do slight differences emerge with the mountain Republicans being a little more likely to consider themselves to be "Born Again" and to attend church more frequently. In short, the key differences between the mountain Republicans and the non-mountain Republicans relate to socioeconomic variables and residential variables which suggest, at least mildly, that the mountain regions of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia have not been transformed by changes in the South in such a way as to homogenize the Republican Party in those states. This conclusion receives some further support from data on these activists' political backgrounds. (See Table 2.) While essentially no inter-group differences appear on a number of variables-other political positions held, importance of committee membership, presidential vote in 1988, and intention to run for public office-there are a few notable differences on years of previous political activity, party switching, political activity by parents or other relatives, and recruitment patterns. Perhaps reflecting the age differences noted earlier and/or the longer record of local party activity, the mountain Republicans tend to have been politically active longer than the non-mountain Republicans . They are also more likely to have come from politically active families. In addition, they are less likely to have come into the party by way of a switch from the Democratic Party; this is undoubtedly an indication of the importance of party switching to the development of the southern Republican Party outside the mountain areas over the past few decades, but it also suggests that mountain 8 I The Journal of Political Science MountainRepublicans Table I Personal Background Characteristics of Local Republican Activists (in percent) Backgro und Mt. Other Charact eristic Republicans Republicans Age Under 40 20 27 40-49 23 25 50-59 19 22 60 and over ~ _M_ 100 100 N= (181)
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